To Travel the World With You
by Frenchhornbook
Summary: Hermione and Draco are coworkers at a travel agency. When one of their customers gives them an amazing oppurtunity, how can they say no? Even if it means spending a whole vacation in Hawaii... together.
1. The Office

**AN: this is just an idea I had that I felt fit with Dramione, which I NEVER write. I've read a few fics with that pairing, but I am more of a Drarry girl. I own nothing. Reviews? 'Tis the season...**

"Grainger?" Draco asked as he swivelled around in his desk chair as he was prone to do in lulls like this. "We work in a Travel Agency, but I never take vacation, and I have noticed that you do the same. Why don't we change that?"

Hermione looked up at him from her desk calendar that she was updating with the times of the week's spin classes. "Why?" She returned to her planning and then shifted through a set of folders for that day's clients.

"For the same reason our clients do: romance, intrigue, adventure, to waste all of their money!" He jumped up from his IKEA desk and spread his arms out to take in the light that invaded their space constantly due to their floor-to-ceiling windows. "You must understand that, 'Mione, otherwise you wouldn't work here."

'Here' was Magic Getaways-a travel agency that had fallen to Hermione and Draco after their boss retired and left his business to his two secretaries who had only been there a month after being hired without either of them knowing that the other had even applied. Hermione liked to tell herself that she did not like the blond's company, but they had reached an unspoken agreement to not argue for every moment of the day.

"I took the job here because it was available. Love of travel sort of came afterwards. And you?"

On days like this, the two often occupied themselves discusses trivial interests they had to pass the time in between appointments.

"When your father disowns you, you'll take any job that you can get."

Hermione bit her lip and twisted her fingers in her bushy hair. "So we have similar interest after all."

Draco sighed and picked up the phone as it rang with a ringtone of "Hot-Blooded," smirking at Hermione because she had changed to that song after had it set to "Rhapsody in Blue"-it was a game they played with each other, again, to pass the time.

"Yes, sir... Oh, that is too bad, sir... Of course, sir... You can trust us, sir... Oh, sir, that is too generous... If you will, sir... Thank you, sir... I wish you the best, sir," Draco settled the phone back into its cradle and smiled up at his coworker over his stark white desk. "Merlin!"

"What is it?"

A cloud passed over the sun, shrouding their usually all white office in a shade of grey with extra spots from flying-by birds.

"Mr. Zabini is not able to make his trip to Hawaii after all, so he has given the tickets to us!"

"Us?"

"He said that something had come up and he had to vacation in Costa Rica instead." Draco opened a desk door only to slam it shut. "We're going to Hawaii-that's almost halfway across the world!"

"The two of us?"

"The plane leaves tomorrow at six AM." Draco grabbed his peacoat from the coat by the door and slammed it so hard that the glass panes rattled.

Hermione put down her pen and did the same. "I'm going to Hawaii," she muttered to herself.

**AN: Thanks for reading! I will try to have another update by Friday so I can settle into a routine of updating on weekdays, but things get crazy pretty soon. I mostly wanted to post this to see what response it would get compared to a really long Drarry fic I'm working on, but please do not think that I don't care about this because I do and I already really like it. Happy Holidays!**


	2. The Airport

Unfortunately for her, Hermione was never one to act on impulse. It took her two minutes of pondering and three minutes of weighing the pros and cons before she got up from her desk and took her plane ticket. She grabbed her coat and locked up the office, laughing to herself as she walked away at her irresponsibility in doing all of this. She had clients that were scheduled. There were plans to be made.

But she had never seen Hawaii. And Draco was going to be there. And he was not a completely insufferable git.

Breaking a few laws, she raced home and grabbed her travel kit and shoved half of her clean laundry into a Coach suitcase the size of a small broom closet. Crookshanks purred at her, brushing up against her leg, but she threw him into his carrying case before grabbing her other belongings and flying down the stairs of her apartment building. She bid the red-brick walls and drafty windows adieu as she put everything in the trunk, including, in her haste, Crookshanks.

It took her five blocks to realize where the constant meowing was coming from, but at that point, she was already halfway to Ron's apartment.

Never one to waste money even though he had it after the war, Ron lived on the outskirts of town in a building with broken, boarded-up windows and wooden siding that historically caught fire.

Even as an Auror, he had slowed down, and it took him almost a minute to answer his beaten-up door even with Crookshanks' whining just outside of it.

"Ronald! Thank goodness you're here!" Hermione would have hugged him if she didn't have a screeching cat in one hand. "I need a huge favor!" She plopped the monstrosity down on Ron's three-legged (previously four-legged) table. "I am taking a spur of the moment vacation, and cats are not allowed. Here is his food and a blanket. You don't need to walk him or anything, I mean, I usually do, but two weeks will not kill him, I guess," she trailed off as Ron put the food into a sparsely-stocked refrigerator that seemed to be growing mold on the handle.

"You're going to leave your baby with me?" He slammed the fridge and something gray and lumpy fell off the top. "Are you okay?"

"Do you not want him?" Hermione cleared away a month's worth of Daily Prophets to  
make room for Crookshank's red and gold blanket on the floor. "I am showing that I trust you, Ronald."

"Yeah, well maybe you trust me a little too much."

Just then a bombshell walked into the main room from Ron's bedroom with one of his old bathrobes hanging off of her in a Playboy way. "Oh, hey," she whispered in a sultry voice to Hermione. "Ron, you didn't tell me that we had guestssss." She was a like a snake-the way she talked and the way she moved around the room fluidly before latching onto Ron's arm.

"I was just going, Hermione muttered before kissing Crookshanks and running out the door, not even looking at where she was going before hurtling down the stairs and into her car, almost bowling over an old lady carrying a year's worth of cottage cheese in a ripping paper bag.

She looked up at Ron's window as she started a car. If this were one of her muggle movies, he would lean out of it right now and apologize for his slovenly behavior and promise to take a shower and send that bimbo outside before moving out of this dump.

It used to be that she was always mad at Draco. Times had changed.

* * *

Hermione remembered the first time she had gone on a trip with the rest of the Golden Trio. Ron had kept his eyes towards the ceiling, watching the huge fans above them and glancing sideways to see the planes coming and going, never accepting the fact that planes were not powered by hidden brooms.

Now alone, Hermione clutched her wool jacket to her chest as she waited in the queue with muggles who were reviewing their travel plans. She might have made the initial plans for these people. She might be the reason that they are here in this steel box of girders and windows that was only pleasing to modern-architecture enthusiasts. A women in a blue uniform stood behind a line of gray podium-like barriers with computer screens attached. Ron had thought that these were patronuses. That outburst had led to a great deal of explaining on Hermione's part as the muggles around her starting to reach for their phones or flag down security guards.

Once she was at the front of the line, Hermione typed in her information with ease, surprised that Mr. Zabini had already transferred the tickets to her name. The uniformed women gave her a forced smirk, but Hermione smiled back. "I'm going to Hawaii."

The women's smirk dropped into a sneer. "Enjoy your vacation, miss."

Hermione nodded and clip-clopped to the security line in her heels. She could see Draco at the front of the line, arguing with the security agent about having to empty his pockets, but Hermione treated him as if he was an acquaintance from school and passed through the line as people skirted around him to maintain circulation. After ten minutes, she had made it to the security agent who was checking the boarding passes.

"Where you off to today, Miss. Grainger?"

"Hawaii." She craned her neck to see over the man's balding head and watch Draco's temper tantrum play out. The guard kept trying to grab at his pockets and managed to jostle the contents enough so that the tip of Draco's wand poked out.

"All alone, Miss. Grainger?"

"No."

Hermione had taken the summer to perfect her occlumency skills, and as the man checked her ID and sent her on her way, she put them to the test. "Let me take your wand as I walk past before you cast Imperio on everyone around us," she said telepathically. Draco's neck twitched for a second, but he settled down as Hermione put her bag and shoes on the conveyor before muttering, "Accio wand" and letting it slide up into her sleeve before she walked under the metal detector.

"All right, all right, I'll empty my pockets," Draco shouted, throwing his hands up into the air. He pulled out a sickle and two galleons that he placed in the guards hand with a smirk.

"Sir, I'm going to need to give you a pat down," the guard apologized as he pressed a button on his radio. "The situation is under control, I will handle it," he said into the walkie-talkie."

Hermione giggled to herself as she slid her shoes back on and sat down on a plastic bench to inconspicuously sort through her purse to wait for Draco who she planned to inconspicuously walk to the gate.

He was led into a windowed cubicle while the security guard put on latex gloves. "I hope you're not allergic to latex."

Draco narrowed his eyes in concentration to send a message to Hermione that made her perk up in surprise: "Something tells me that he would not change gloves if I was allergic."

She smiled and resisted the urge to turn around and witness his humiliation before he marched out without so much as a goodbye to the security guard who had barely escaped without being imperio'ed.

As she fell into step behind Draco, Hermione dialed her parents. The phone went to voice mail, and she sighed with Draco slowing down as if to listen to her conversation. "Hey Mum. Hey Dad. It's me, Hermione. I was just calling to tell you that my coworker Draco and I are taking a last-minute trip to Hawaii. We probably will not have cellphone service all the time, so if I do not pick up, don't worry. I love you. Don't let any of those kids bite your fingers off. Talk to you soon." She pressed the 'end' button and pocketed her phone as Draco played a game of copy cat with her.

"Hey Mum and Dad. How are you-oh!" He let the phone fall away from his ear as he turned towards Hermione. "It went to voicemail," he muttered before leaving a message. "I was just calling to say that I am going to be out of the country for two weeks. Bye." He hung up as they found faux-leather seats at the gate next to an elderly couple who were sleeping on each other's shoulders.

"I have this theory that they have been screening my calls ever since I got this phone-even before I was disowned," Draco moaned as he opened his e-mail on his phone.

Hermione patted his arm, "I don't screen your calls, just so you know."

"Thanks, 'Mione."


	3. The Flight

**AN: Thanks for reading, as always! This chapter is kind of weird because a lot of things are going on both in the story and in my house, so I was kind of distracted. Apologies :) Hope you have a good holiday. **

Thankfully, the plane arrived perfectly on time to the jet bridge, and there were no mechanical problems, so Hermione did not have to deal with a disgruntled Draco as they boarded the plane and took their first class seats. He tapped his foot against the blue carpet as they waited for a flight attendant to come around and take pre-flight drink orders.

"Ever flown before, Draco?"

"Of course." The tapping increased until the perky brunette waltzed down the aisle in her six-inch heels and chiffon scarf (and the rest of her uniform, of course). Draco mumbled, "I'll just have water" and Hermione ordered apple juice.

"You seem pretty nervous to order a glass of water, Malfoy. Sure you've flown before?"

He stared at her as she sipped her juice. "It was after my father disowned me, okay? We were in Venice for holiday, and right as I was about to grab his hand and apparate back home, he took a step away from me and said, 'Draco,you are not part of this family anymore. You have been disowned.' I haven't seen him since." He drank his water, not even wiping his hands on his pants afterwards even though the glass sweated like a pig. "I was so shooken up that I couldn't apparate, so I stayed there for a couple weeks, long enough to make a bit of money doing... Well, I made some money and got myself a plane ticket back to England. The plane hit a storm patch and the turbulence was so bad that we had to take a detour to Paris. I spent a whole day locked in that airport because they always thought it would be one hour until the plane left until it turned to two hours, turned to three. When we finally got home, well, back to England, I wanted a bit of a break from planes. I may have done this too soon."

Hermione reached across the arm rest to grab his hand, and much to her surprise, he did not retract it as they took off, only letting his grip grow tighter. She watched as the skyline flattened out and buildings turned to clouds, lamenting the fact that crepe vendors would be few and far between in Hawaii. A guide book in her seat pocket showed pictures of lush rain forests and rushing waterfalls that were mere minutes from the nearest country road. Hermione tried to show them to Malfoy, but he was already asleep.

The flight attendant came around to take meal orders, so Hermione shook Draco awake before looking at the menu. He ordered the chicken pilaf, but Hermione was still looking.

"Do you have any vegetarian options?" She asked.

"I didn't know you were a vegetarian," Malfoy commented.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Don't act so surprised."

"Not surprised, just interested." He held his hands up in surrender.

The flight attendant cleared her throat before replying, "No, I'm sorry we do not, but the meals are already pre-made, we just heat them up. So you don't have to worry about us killing any animals, they're already dead, so it shouldn't make a difference, right?"

Draco shook his head and tried to grab Hermione's hand to restrain her. "Even I know that's not going to make her happy.

Hermione pushed her hair back behind her ears and took a deep breath before launching into a run-on sentence rant. "This is all about supply and demand, if we ever want to eradicate the consumption of meat, we have to eradicate the demand for it, only then will the suppliers lose business entirely, and only then will the animals be safe, so you can take your pre-cooked meat product and give it to some other ignorant chap who doesn't understand the terrible conditions that those animals are kept under, it's worse than house elves-oh!" Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth, but Draco pulled them down.

"She hasn't had her meds today," he explained as the flight attendant clip-clopped away with a puzzled look on her face.

"I'm sorry, Draco," Hermione moaned. "I didn't mean to-"

"Yeah, you know that bit about house elves was really upsetting, you could've gotten us found out." He chuckled to himself and restedh is alabaster cheek on his alabaster hand, regarding her with jollity.

"No, no, I meant the rant-oh! Right." Realization hit her like the first cloud of a storm front. "Right, I get it, you don't care."

"Does it bother you that I eat meat?"

She smoothed down her hair and put her hands in her lap. "No, you're not ignorant like that girl. At least you know that what you're doing is wrong."

He rolled his eyes in a barrel roll but nodded, knowing that she was joking with him good-naturedly.

The half-frightened flight attendant trotted back to their seats with Draco's chicken and a faked smile for Hermione while another swung by to take drink orders again. Even after they had ordered repeats from before, she lingered, resting her elbows on Hermione's aisle seat arm rest to look at Draco across the way.

"Do I know you?" She drawled, dragging a finger along the underside of her lip.

"Um, I don't know. I don't know you."

"Wait, I know! Did you live in Venice ever?"

"Um, I vacationed there once." Draco pulled at the collar of his shirt and took a sip of water, looking straight ahead as if that might make her go away.

"Did you ever work as an escort...? If you know what I mean..."

"Oh, Merlin," he muttered under his breath before replying, "No, I don't know what your talking about."

She sighed and walked away; Hermione turned on him. "Escort?" She mumbled, "Is that how you made money in Venice?"

He stared at her with fire. "Please do not talk about it."

So she did not, not even when the plane landed with a fair bit of jostling and not even when they had to leave their cushioned seats and not even when they disembarked and felt the Hawaiian air on the jet bridge and not even as they emerged from the windowless corridor to the Maui airport with huge windows that showed hints of green around the edges of the runways and not even when they found Mr. Zabini's limo driver.

The scenery passed by like scenes for an unoriginal fruit commercial, but it seemed to capture Hermione's attention more than Draco ever could as she watched it pass by.


	4. The Resort

**AN: Hey, lovelies! Thanks for stopping by! Hope you guys had a good winter break, if you had one, that is. I will try to update this again on Thursday... By then, I think we will be able to see some of the adventure. DFTBA.**

****Their driver deposited them in front of a monstrous hotel/resort that had a doorman to greet you at the door. Draco did not bat an eye at the extreme wealth that surrounded them in the form of native plants that cost hundreds to maintain much less to purchase in the first place, but Hermione did not deny herself the luxury of looking around as if she was visiting Hogwarts for the first time again. Her traveling partner dragged her away from the display of tropical fish and checked in at the front desk. Hermione made eyes at the cute concierge across the way and tapped her nails against the marble counter.

The clerk helping Draco held out the keys. "You are in the penthouse, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy."

Draco started to clarify, "Oh, we're not marr-" but Hermione had not heard the slip up, now wandering over to the bejeweled elevators. _Like I would marry her, _Draco thought to himself as he signaled for a bell hop wearing a printed floral shirt to follow them. The boy pushed the luggage cart into the elevator, and Draco pushed the button while Hermione ogled the pool below them.

"There are dolphins in there, Draco! Look!"

The bell hop snickered, but Draco sent him a lava-hot glare before nodding his head at the brunette.

When the elevator reached the hallway in front of the penthouse, the bell hop moved to exit, but Draco dismissed him with a five dollar tip and wheeled the luggage cart out with Hermione riding on top. He inserted the key in the slot, and along with a green light, a computer screen lit up on the door.

"Welcome to the Chula Vista Resort," a voice said from an intercom on the wall while the computer screen swirled to reveal a parrot sitting on a perch on what looked to be a baech. "May I ask your names?"

"Draco and Hermione!" Hermione giggled, sliding off of the luggage and touching her nose to the parrot's.

"I see... I will be your personal butler during your voyage. Please call me Rocko. Anything you need, do not hesitate to ask." The bird nodded his head. Waves crept closer to him in the background, but other than a ruffle in his feathers from the wind, he did not flinch. "May I ask if you are friends of Mr. Zabini's?"

"We are," Draco muttered, trying the handle and finding it would not budge.

"Oh, just wait, Draco. I will open the door once we have been formally introduced. Just wait 'til we finish our small talk. Now, back to Mr. Zabini. I only ask because he was not shocked at the fact that I could talk either. Are you, by chance, wizards?"

"Yes, now if you will excuse, it was a long flight!"

"As you wish, Draco."

The door swung open, but Draco did not look inside before muttering, "Call me Mr. Malfoy."

Hermione was already ahead of him, rushing to the bed and jumping up and down before pulling back the curtain's as Draco shielded his eyes and opening the mini fridge with its COMPLIMENTARY sign and turning on the TV, flipping through the 500 channels.

"Would you settle down, Grainger? I have had enough stress for one day. You can sleep here, and I will sleep in the other bed."

"What other bed?" The TV changed from the default news channel to a live video of Rocko, still on his perch. "The penthouse only has one bed."

"What?" Draco roared, marching closer to the screen as Hermione stopped her jumping on the, apparently, only bed in the room.

"It only has one bed."

"I heard what you said! I want a second one!"

"Ooh," Rocko whispered as he lifted his left leg up in a demonstration of mild fear. "Are you one of those dysfunctional married couples? Here for some counseling? I hear a lot of people do that these days."

"We are not married!" Draco roared again, staring at Hermione who rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Not yet, right?"

"No, never!"

Leaning forward on his perch, Rocko asked, "Are you hearing this, Hermione. I think it's time you call a time out on this relationship."

She shook her head, smiling. "It's not a relationship, Rocko. We are just coworkers, and Mr. Zabini is one of our clients. He called us this morning to say that he was not able to go on this trip and gave us the tickets. Draco has had a long day," she added as the blond downed one of the bottles of Vodka from the fridge.

"Lights out," he snarled at Rocko.

"But it's only six o'clock, Mr. Malfoy!"

"Lights out!" The lights flickered off, but the sun still creeped in through the windows that Draco promptly shaded. However, a faint glow still illuminated the room. He did not even bother changing into pajamas before crawling under the blankets on the side of the bed opposite Hermione.

"This room is beautiful, Hermione murmured.

"Granger, please," Draco whined.

She stood up the bed and shook her finger at him. "No, no, just one minute. Look around! The walls are rainbow and the windows sparkle, they are so clean. These lights? Have feather accents on the sconces! And we have a talking Parrot butler. You can tell me that you are used to wealth because you grew up with it, but you cannot tell me that this does not amaze you."

"Tell me again in the morning, I am not in the mod right now."

He fell asleep, leaving Hermione to grab one of the keys and a book before heading back to the lobby and settling down among other travelers enjoying the beautiful view and happy hour including Hula dancers.


	5. The Turtles

**AN: Hey! I know this is early, but I was pretty sure that you wouldn't mind :)**

Hermione woke up with her back toward Draco with him lying in a similar position. Rocko snores softly on the TV screen, but Hermione plugs in her headphones and tunes into the London news instead. The usual fluff about favorite recipes and the best Preschools in town almost lulls her back to sleep. In London, this is the Late, Late Show, and if she is to stick to a routine, she must stay awake even though she usually finds herself passed out on her couch in the early morning with the TV still on.

She accidentally unplugs her headphones before turning off the TV and the sound of the news station jingle jolts Draco awake. Much to her surprise, he does not attack Hermione and merely sighs as she slips off the bed, rustling the curtains and letting in the sunlight in the process.

"Where are we, Granger?"

"Hawaii," she says with her eyebrows raised. Did he have a few too many drinks while she was gone last night?

Rocko springs to life on the screen, squawking at them and making Draco shudder as he pulls the covers over his head.

"Hello, my delightful guests! Today, you are free to spend your time as you wish until you are scheduled for dinner for two at the hotel restaurant. If you wish to have breakfast, simply call the front desk. There's a buffet, but room service has already been paid for by Mr. Zabini. Any questions?"

"Do you come with a mute button?" Draco moaned, rolling out of bed in just his boxers.

_I was sleeping next to that?_ Hermione shuddered in her cotton pajama set with flowers on the sleeves.

He pulled on a pair of jeans and buttoned a shirt over his sculpted body.

Hermione covered her eyes as she turned away as if to maintain his modesty. _Since when is he so muscular?_

"No, I have no mute button, nor do I need one. I am a highly-trained-"

Draco shut the TV off with a click from the remote before slipping into flip flops. He muttered with his hand on the door and a key in his pocket, "Eat without me. I don't do breakfast. I want to have a look around."

Hermione did not even have time to say that was okay with her before he was gone to who knows where. She turned back on the TV and waited for Rocko to notice that she was watching. "Can you see me, Rocko?"

"Yes, I have a live video feed that is usually on unless you turn off the TV by yourself like Draco just did. There's a girl that comes to feed me twice a day and she can turn it back on for me in case I want to do a bit of spying."

Hermione smiled with her eyes narrowed like the streets of Diagon Alley.

"But don't worry, Hermione. I promise I will not do that to you, only Mr. Zabini. He leads quite an adventurous life."

"I am sure he does," she nodded, maintaining client-confidentiality by not divulging the many places the wealthy man liked to travel.

"Want to hear his secrets?"

"No, thank you," she muttered as she whispered a goodbye and clicked off the TV before changing into a skirt and tee-shirt with sneakers, prepared for anything for she did not know what the day would bring.

Hermione had to wait about a minute for the elevator, but when it came, there was a personal bell hop who pressed the button for her and stood with his hands behind his back, facing the button panel as if to protect her privacy.

"Do you know where a good place would be to see some sea turtles?"

Without turning around, he asked, "See sea turtles?"

"Yes, sorry for the poor word choice on my part."

"No apologies necessary, miss." He nodded, his green hat almost falling off of his large head. "If you want to see turtles, you will want to go up the east coast of Maui and look for some signs. Most beaches will have them. You may even be able to catch a tour bus in a little bit."

"Thank you," she said as she walked out of the elevator and towards the breakfast restaurant.

The hostess recognized her and called her by name with a smile. "This way, Miss Granger. Would you like a table with a view?"

"Um, yes, please."

The black-vested girl clip-clopped in bright green heels to compliment the shocking pink blouse she wore over white capris. "Are you enjoying Maui, Miss Granger?" She placed the menu at Hermione's seat and poured her a glass of apple juice.

"Yes, thank you. Um, how did you know that I drink apple juice with my breakfast and how did you know my name?"

The girl winked, her inch-long eyelashes touching for a split second. "Your travel buddy stopped by. He knew you liked apple juice because you often drink it at work. He thought you would come down here because you would be too kind to make someone bring food all the way up to your penthouse."

"Oh, thank you. I'll take a minute to decide what I want."

The girl laughed with a nod. "He was worried that you would be upset that he did not have your breakfast prepared to be ready when you got here, but he said there were many choices." The girl spun on her heel and went to help the next rich tourist.

Hermione pored over the menu but lost focus in trying to answer her questions about Draco's kindness. By the time the waitress returned with less of a smile on her face, she had been able to choose the vegetarian omelette but was still confused as to why he was being so nice to her when he was still upset about her prying about his past.

The girl, her name was Zelda Hermione found out, brought the omelette out to the table that overlooked a small duck pond with the most colorful ducks Hermione had ever seen. The brunette had decided that his good-humoredness had been a result of a good night's sleep. She was pretty sure that the bed was tempur pedic.

Once Hermione finished the omelette, Zelda returned with a quizzical look on her face. "Miss Granger? May I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"You seem very contemplative... What about?"

"Well," Hermione muttered with a chuckle at her own immaturity at worrying about such trivial things, "he is not usually so nice. Never mean, per se, but we are just coworkers. I didn't expect him to tell you about me in advance or anything. If I knew him better, I would say that it was uncharacteristic, but I do not know him well enough to make that assertion."

Zelda smiled. Her teeth were as white as the sand just past the duck pond. "Will that be all for today?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Your bill has been prepaid. I hope you have a nice day."

"You too," Hermione wished her before waiting for the girl to leave so that she could leave her a ten dollar tip without her seeing it and objecting to the generosity.

She passed a couple raucous families with parents trying to control their children who were flinging bits of bacon at each other, and despite this rowdiness, she remembered her lifetime wish to have a family of her own and tried to ignore thoughts of her failed attempts at a relationship with Ron.

The halls were lined with palm trees and pictures of the beach at different times of day in different lighting-like Monet's haystacks. Hermione mused on this connection as she waited in line for the concierge.

The dapper gentleman started at her presence and smoothed the front of his forest green waist coat. "Miss Granger, what brings you here? I assume everything is alright with Rocko?"

"Yes, thank you." Hermione smiled and sighed at the same time as she used to do when she would see the other parts of the Golden Trio safe in the hospital ward after an adventure. "How are you?"

The man flinched in surprise. "Um, good, thank you..."

"Really? You have such a difficult job, dealing with all of these people all day. Is everything really good?" She figured that if Draco was going to be kind, it would not hurt her to do the same. She smiled at the concierge.

"It does get harrying, but I enjoy it."

"There! That's the answer I was looking for! How great it is to love your work!"

"Miss Granger, is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes: two things. One: how does everyone know my name here?"

"Well, you are one of our wealthiest guests right now, so the whole front desk knows your face."

Hermione scoffed at the assumption that she was wealthy, but continued, "Two: I would like to know of any tour buses that would be able to take me up the east coast."

He nodded fervently, ready to return to his normal job instead of engaging in small talk. She took the brochure he gave her and followed his directions to wait a few minutes outside near the sign for the tour company. He quickly turned away to check something on his computer and waited for her to leave.

The group in front of the Maui Oh My! Tours Company was composed of a couple elderly people already lathering on the sunscreen and a few families in matching printed shirts. She imagined how she would look amonst them in auror robes before she bought a ticket right as the bus arrived. The other travelers had already taken their seats, so she had to pass by their judgmental eyes on the way to the middle ground between the silent parents and their rambunctiousness children who had taken over the last few rows.

The driver's voice rattled over the intercom as they jostled along what would be considered country roads in England, but Hermione made no attempt to understand it, instead losing herself in the green pastures that rolled past with their exotic flowers, enjoying the view more than she had on their initial ride to the hotel when she had been on awkward ground with Draco.

The bus made periodic stops along the coast at markets and stands for sugar cane juice with hidden waterfalls, opening and closing its doors until only Hermione remained.

"Where to, Miss? The driver asked in a Polynesian accent.

"The nearest beach with sea turtles."

"Will do!"

Hermione pressed her cheek against the carpeted walls and settled in for the rest of the ride. The driver woke her with a bell and she awoke, startled until she smiled as she stumbled off into a deserted parking lot. She followed a sand trail to the beach where she found a sea of green where blue would usually be. Standing at the edge for a minute or two, Hermione watched as the waves splashed at the tips of her toes once she took off her shoes. One of the turtles coasted towards her unknowingly, but turned around once one of its flippers hit sand.

To Hermione, turtles were like the house elves of the animal kingdom. She was already drafting acronyms for club names.

Here they were, so magnificent and incredibly interesting, but valued for their shells by poachers and their meat by sick carnivores. It was bad enough that they had multitudes of predators out in the water, but to add humans to the mix? It was no wonder these beautiful creatures were endangered!

She knew not to touch them lest she hurt one, but she ventured into the water where she navigated the depths like a maze with walls that would shock you if you made a wrong turn. The sun played off of the water and turned the green shells gold, into tiny orbs of light as she walked among them. Hermione remembered pictures she had seen of places where the fish lit up in bioluminescence at the touch, but even that could not compare to this color palette that stretched out in front of her.

The bus honked its horn at her once it was time to return, but she barely muttered a hello to the driver before she drifted back to sleep with dreams of the secret turtles, waiting to recount the whole story to Draco over dinner.


	6. The Dinner

**AN: Hi! I know this is late, and I am not going to recount my list of excuses for why I didn't update earlier this week, but hopefully some things will blow over and I will be more motivated. Love you all!**

****With the TV turned off to avoid Rocko's whistled cat calls, Hermione shrugged off her tee-shirt and shorts in exchange for a strapless bra with heels to match. She plundered around the penthouse, searching for her even dress with the pink silk flowers selected specifically for banquets such as this. She had been saving it for an awards dinner at the Ministry (that is, when she got an award) but that date had not been decided upon and in case it never came, she wanted to get at least one wear out of the dress.

Draco must have done some reorganizing after he left for the day because all that remained in Hermione's suitcase was a sun hat and bottle of sun screen. Her fingers tempted her to press the ON button of the TV to ask Rocko if he had been spying on Draco at all, but she was still only wearing her underthings.

And that is how Draco found her. She dove under the covers with a squeal as his hands sprung to his eyes to protect her modesty. "Merlin's beard," they both shouted.

Hermione poked her head out to sheepishly grin at him. Draco apologized with his eyes still closed, "I am sorry. I should have knocked, but I did not think that, well, yeah."

"You can open your eyes now, Draco."

He did but only looked in her direction long enough to grab his suit from a hook on the wall and disappear in the bathroom.

"Draco, where did you put my pink dress?"

Merlin! She reprimanded herself for sounding like a bored housewife whose only joy in life was going to dinners where she would know virtually no one.

"It's in the closet by the kitchenette with your other clothes. I had some extra time today. I hope you don't mind."

It wasn't that she minded, per se. It's just that she thought Draco should have waited for an invitation before he went pawing through her underwear and other clothing. She took a mental poll of what bras and panties she had brought, and hoped that none of them were to offensively gross or slutty.

"Thank you."

"What did you do today?"

Hermione opened the closet door that had a pine tree handle on it and rummaged around through all her tee-shirts hung on bright yellow hangers the color of pineapples before she found the chosen dress in the back corner.

"I was planning to tell you over dinner," she murmured, hoping that he could hear her well enough to detect in her voice that she wanted this conversation to wait until she was at least fully clothed.

"Alright," he replied while turning on the tap to slick his hair back and wash his face.

Hermione stepped into her dress and zipped up the back as much as she could on her own before grabbing her wand to finish the job and then slide it into her Mary Poppin's clutch. "I'm decent now," she giggled, already having gotten over the fact that Draco had seen her half-naked. They had slept together last night, right? And sure, it wasn't in the way that other people may have thought, but she felt like he was the brother she never had.

Draco emerged from the bathroom with his arm extended, clothed in a shiny black suit that was just a tad less formal than a tuxedo. "Miss Granger, might you allow me to escort you to dinner?"

She rolled her eyes at his exorbitant chivalry but took his arm and went to wait with him for a bellhop to bring the elevator. Once there, the boy raised his eyebrows and lowered his jaw, but the couple just rolled their eyes to each other and stepped to the back where he could not ogle them anymore.

Without asking, he knew from their dress exactly what floor they were going to: the second, the one with the best access for dinner guests not staying at the hotel. A waiter greeted them at the elevator and initiated the small talk en route to their table.

"How are you today? Enjoying your stay? If there is anything you need at any time during your vacation, do not hesitate to ask. I hear there is a great couple's massage place just down the road."

This time, Draco had the good grace to point out that they were not a couple in a polite tone once they were sitting down, allowing the poor waiter the perfect opportunity to take his leave.

"Hermione, I think we ought to get married before this trip is over if we want to avoid all these awkward moments of people thinking we are a couple."

She blushed but rolled her eyes before selecting an entree under the Vegetarian section. Beyond her menu, a dazzling spectacle danced in every corner of her vision with glowing lamps and bejeweled counters next to ivory table cloths on tables that sat all varieties of people: naive tourists in sandals, businessman nursing martinis, and many other well-dressed couples such as Draco and Hermione.

A waitress in a pink sundress flounced over to them with a purple note pad in her hand along with a flower pen that she pressed to her temple as she introduced herself, "I am Kyana. I will be your server tonight. If you need anything ,don't hesitate to ask. Can I get you guys started?"

Draco nodded, keeping his eyes downcast to stop from staring at this petit girl in that dress that was designed to fit her form. "I'll have a glass of chardonnay and the prime rib. Oh wait, is that okay with you, Hermione?" His eyes shot up to look at his dinner partner and gauge her reaction to his order.

"Yes," she replied, confused. "I'll have Chateau Saint-Michel with the Tofu Pasta."

"Okay, great choices. I will be right back with your drinks."

Kyana skipped away on the balls of her feet, and Hermione turned her eyes towards Draco. "Why does it matter what I think of your dinner choices?"

"Well, I didn't know..Because you're vegetarian.."

"Oh, please," she pleaded, "don't think like that. Just because I don't eat meat doesn't mean you have to follow suite. I just hope that I set a good example for someone, somewhere. Don't worry, I'm not the Vegetarian police."

"Well, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay with it."

"Why does it matter?"

"I just want to like what you like."

"Okay..."

Kyana returned with the drinks and a reassuring message about the status of their dinners, ending their first awkward conversation.

"The turtles!" Hermione exclaimed after a minute spent staring at the opposite wall that was made out of a fish tank. "I went to see turtles today. They were beautiful! Maybe you could come back with me sometime. THey are just so magnificent. Some people believe that they were the source of all magic."

Draco rolled his eyes while sliding his fingers around the stem of his glass. "Those people are the nut cases of the wizarding world."

"Well, sure, but I can see what they mean! These creatures are so wonderful! I am so glad I got the chance to see them."

"Can't you see them at that aquarium outside London?"

"Well, yeah," Hermione admitted, flustered, "but I was walking right by them and there were no other tourists to interrupt my enjoyment. Why the sudden change of tune? I thought you were interested in what I liked?"

He shrugged, the alcohol already taking effect, "You got mad at me for that, so now I am taking the opposite route."

"Can't you find a middle road? This is something I am excited about! These animals are becoming extinct and can be very rare to spot. I am glad I got to see them before they disappeared. It really is a testament to all the great work environmental organizations have been doing."

Draco sighed, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt and exposing chest hair Hermione was sure had not developed until after their Seventh Year. "I'm sorry. I didn't understand just how invested you were in animal rights."

She shrugged, the shoulders of her dress threatening to fall off before she replied, "That's part of the reason I got the job at the travel agency. Ecotourism is really interesting to me and I love helping people plan those trips. Besides, my extra money goes to conservation efforts."

"You really are astonishing, Granger." Draco laughed good-naturedly as he finished his champagne flute. "Especially in that dress."

Hermione blushed for the second time that night and muttered a thank you before looking over herself. The dress was a sort of fake silk that did not exploit silk worms, and it had flowers made of the same material spiraling up from her waist to her shoulder. She absentmindedly played with the ruffles on the sleeves, waiting for her cheeks to return to normal color.

Kyana spiraled back onto the scene with two trays destined for them and grabbed Draco's glass to refill it before wishing them, "Bon Appetit."

As most dinners usually start, they both dived straight into their food and made no attempts to revive the remnants of their conversation.

"I didn't realize how hungry I was until I ate this steak," Draco moaned in ecstasy as he cut off his third piece in one minute.

Hermione giggled, her few sips of wine finally starting to settle in and whispered something about this being the best tofu pasta she had ever eaten.

Draco polished off half his steak before starting up small talk again. "So, you and Weasley? When did that break off?"

Kyana returned with his refilled glass, but this time her appearance did nothing to make the conversation any better.

"Um, well, we were never really together."

"What? We were all sure you two were sneaking out together when you were prefects!"

"No, I mean we patrolled together, but nothing like that."

"But you still love him?"

The lights above them dimmed to set the mood as the night entered into the late evening and the most fancy and respected guests started arriving to take the place of the tourists.

"Of course I do. I love both him and Harry."

"But he doesn't love you."

A waiter wheeled out an ice sculpture to the middle of the floor where a myriad of lights bombarded it to create rainbows around the already beautiful restaurant.

Hermione took one last bite of pasta before responding.

"I do not know."

"At least, he doesn't love you like you love him." Draco downed half of his remaining champagne.

"Well because love is so complicated, it would be impossible for two people to love each other in the exact same capacity."

"No, no, no. I'm talking about friend love. You're a friend to him, but you love him more than that."

"Could we please not have this conversation? I do not appreciate you digging into my personal life, and you've had a bit too much to drink.

Kyana sauntered past and greeted them with an airy, "Would you like anything else tonight?"

"No, we're finished, thank you," Hermione managed to say without bolting from this overly personal conversation.

"Well, your bill is taken care of, so have a good night!"

"Thank you, you too!" Hermione called after her, not wasting a second before standing up and turning to leave.

Draco fumbled in his pockets to find a ten dollar bill to leave as a tip instead of the numerous galleons that had collected in his pockets and then ran after Hermione. "Granger, wait! Don't leave without me!"

She huffed at him, but the elevator boy waited until the blond was positioned comfortably against the wall before operating the lift. Draco mock-panted and put his hands together in a plea for forgiveness. His lips stuck out and with his every breath, Hermione could smell the alcohol. "It's time to call it a night, Draco," she muttered as they exited the elevator together and turned off Rocko on the TV as soon as it turned on by itself. "I've had enough of you for one day, I guess."

She looked at the bed. Great. She had almost forgotten that she had to share a bed with this jerk.


	7. The Luau

**AN: So I told some people that I would update today and Wednesday, and I am nothing if not a creature of habit. Hope all of you in the United States enjoyed having a day off to celebrate civil rights.**

Rocko woke the couple with a loud squawk that he apologized for once both of them sprung out of bed and rubbed their eyes. Hermione threw on some proper clothes and went to bolt out of the penthouse to avoid Draco as much as possible, and Rocko shouted after her, "Don't forget the luau at 10 o'clock after breakfast!" She slammed the door in his face before she could sigh at the prospect of having to spend more time with Draco. Well, maybe he would be hungover. And maybe he had run out of personal questions to ask her.

Zelda at the restaurant smiled at her, ready to escort Hermione to a table with a view again, but the brunette shook her head and started to walk past to the Starbucks before the waitress grabbed her arm. "What's up, Hermione? I thought you liked it here!"

"It's just... Draco... I have a few things to do. I'm sorry. I'll be back tomorrow hopefully."

The girl started twirling her around poking at her stomach with an inquisitive look on her face. "Did he hit you or anything?'

Hermione rolled her eyes behind closed lids but replied no before excusing herself. She took herself to the beach without a towel or even sunblock for her pale skin in order to experience nature as it was meant to be experienced without the drama of commercialism trailing all around her like garbage in the ocean. She lay back in the sand and even took off her flip-flops, exposing her feet to the elements.

In England, they had beaches, sure, but none of them were like this. None of them had so many relaxed tourists sunning themselves as hot surfer buffs rode the waves even the crests dipped lowed than their normal six-foot height. She closed her eyes and could make out the sound of Rocko yelling at Draco via webcam farther down the beach, children playing catch with a beach ball, and most importantly the sound of waves that was so unique to this place. They were so rebellious, like the cries of the quidditch team before a match or the screams of that underground Wizarding band that Ron was obsessed with for a year.

Ah, Ron,

She closed her mind off to him as if using occlumency.

Hermione returned to the reality of Hawaii with a slight burn on her forearms and a sleepy feeling coming over her as she checked her watched. With ten minutes until it started, she started walking back towards the hotel where a bellhop led her to an outdoor conference area where the performers were setting up for the luau.

Polynesian Luau

**10:00**

**Maui Conference Room**

**Please enjoy the performance at the beginning and a **

**Traditional Polynesian lunch afterwards**

**Including a stuffed pig!**

**Enjoy!**

**Courtesy of the Chula Vista Resort.**

Hermione shuddered at the thought of that pig, but Rocko had assured her that there would be plenty of vegetarian options for her. She found her place at a table festooned with a rainbow of flowers next to where Draco was already lounging in khakis and a black, silk polo unlike most of the other men there who sported gauche floral prints that were more garish than anything Hermione had ever seen on Project Runway.

He nodded a curt hello to her as she sat down, and she returned the favor but did not initiate an apology for her behavior last night because she felt like it was him and him alone who has at fault for the failure of an evening. A waitress wearing a full grass skirt and a skimpy bikini top came by to hand them fruity drinks with umbrella straws that she assured them, with a wink, were nonalcoholic.

Hermione pushed hers to the other side of a table, and Draco did likewise, citing bad experiences in the war that led to a high awareness of possible poisoning, but he really just did not want to be caught drinking something so frilly; the couple across from them sat down and took the drinks with matching smiles before launching into small talk with the two wizards. "Hi! We're Fred and Wilma! We live in Florida most of the year with our twenty hairless cats, but we come out here after ten full moons to relax. How about you?"

Without planning it, the two responding, "Eu, nous ne parlons pas anglais," telling the Floridians that they didn't speak English. Although they had sentenced themselves to talking solely in French, it would be alright because both of them were still recovering from last night, or so it seemed.

The performance started with a canopy being lowered around the spectators and a fire ball exploding. Even though sights such as these were common in the Wizarding world, Hermione let herself get carried away in the euphoria as a hula dancer led the guests in a conga line around the center stage where muscled men were blowing fire at each other and tumbling around the space while still carrying torches. A man covered in feathers arrived to serenade the spectators with songs that had words in a language even he did not understand, and a dozen little girls ran through the legs of the adults carrying leis that they distributed to each of the conga-line participants. The dancers waltzed to seats around the stage as nature music set in while the guests meandered back to their tables.

Hermione beamed at Draco who remained stoic, but his eyes gave him away. A waiter in a pair of board shorts and nothing else brought them plates and escorted them to the buffet where their Floridian neighbors exclaimed as they approached each menu item from the fruit salad to the pig at the front that made Hermione gag and bury her nose in Draco's shoulder until they passed it. She muttered a thank you but he was already stacking pieces of pineapple on his plate to start off what would turn out to be a vegan dinner for him. Hermione helped herself to the salad and exited the line before they could get to the carver at the end with a bloody knife in his hand. Even Draco had to duck out of line at that point because it brought back bad memories from the war.

The Floridians flaunted their carnivorousness with forks flashing and spoons scooping as they babbled about the amazing qualities of Hawaii even in comparison to their favorite Florida. The more meat they cut, the more sick Hermione felt, to the point where she had to excuse herself after one final bite of salad. Draco gave the tourists a death glare before following her. "Hermione!"

A hula dancer handed them a shell bracelet on their way out, but Draco ignored him to catch up to Hermione. "Hermione! Are you alright?"

It wasn't until he had chased her up the flight of stairs that he got his answer: "Yes."

She flung open the door and downed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Don't lie to me, Granger."

"Fine!" She flung up her arms like a tree in a hurricane. "You want the truth?"

"Yes! I told you most of what happened to me in Italy, but I still know next to nothing about you!"

"Oh, please! We can't all be perfectly open Draco Malfoy!"

Draco pulled his wand when Hermione pulled hers, but she glared at him when she just cast a simple Muffliato before putting it back in her pocket.

"I'm not perfectly open..." It was like the silencing spell had worked on Draco instead of just the room. "You still don't know why my parents disowned me."

Hermione too, lowered her voice. "Well, you were helping our side during the final battle..."

"Yeah, but there's something else... Never mind. I'm sorry for yelling, um, at you, er, Hermione. I'm going to bed." She nodded, respecting his end to the conversation and relishing the fact that he had not brought Ron into the discussion. Both of them climbed into their bed fully clothed. Hermione stayed awake longer than Draco, still feeling sick to her stomach, to breathe deeply and cleanse her system of the smell of meat. She should have never gone to that luau. She felt a rustling between them, and immediately thought of the gnomes walking around in the garden under the window when she would sleep over at the Weasley's, but reminded herself that she was in Hawaii, not England. It was Draco's hand, searching. When his fingertips hit her, she let their hands slide together and told herself that she was just acting as Draco's teddy bear, nothing more.


	8. The Volcano

**AN: Thanks as always for reading! I told a few readers that I would update today, so here goes nothing!**

Hermione rolled out of bed, turning off the TV with a flick of her wand which she had kept in her pocket after falling asleep so hurriedly after the fight with Draco. She shut down Rocko before he could wake Draco. She snuck out holding her flip flops so as to make as little noise as possible and tip-toed to the elevator where she woke the sleeping attendant who still managed a smile for her despite being waken after only getting two hours of sleep because a group of club-goers had not arrived until four o'clock that morning.

"How are you awake so early, Miss?" He mumbled through a yawn as he pressed the button for the main floor.

"Well, I come from England, so it is much later there, and I guess my biological clock is set to a different time."

"Er, Miss, the biological clock is a bit different than what you seem to think..."

"Oh!" Hermione's hands flew to her mouth as she giggled at herself. "Right, I am sorry. Even though it feels like it is late in the day, I did only wake up five minutes ago." She excused herself and did not look back to spare her the embarrassment of seeing the young elevator attendant laugh at the crazy Englishwoman.

She skipped past the concierge who was grooming a new potted hibiscus on his desk and instead walked to the calming beach as she did yesterday. Hermione found her least favorite talking bird (don't worry, she only knew one, Rocko did not annoy her that much) and start stroking his head. He did not even ask who was touching him before lifting one leg and letting it shake as she ruffled his feathers in the best way possible.

A breeze blew by and shook Rocko to his core, practically making him fall off his perch, so he regained his balance and turned around to finally identify his pleasurer. "'Ello, Hermione!"

"Hello, Rocko. How are you today?"

"Good, thank you, how are you? You know, I haven't seen much of you lately."

"I'm alright. Draco and I have just been fighting and waking up late, and we don't want to be disturbed."

"Fighting?"

"And sleeping in late. He's still asleep right now too."

"Fighting?"

"Would you settle down?" She took a step away from him even as he tilted his head towards her to garner some more pets. "My relationship with Draco is very private. I am not even sure that you could call it a relationship."

"Oh, well, I dare to think that he definitely calls it a relationship, Miss Granger."

"What? Have you been talking to Draco? Having midnight chats while I sleep? Are you spying on us?"

He flapped his wings to get closer to the pet-giver but did not move from his perch because they were clipped. "I am just very adept at observing people. I have been doing it all of my life, every day, every hour. Even when you turn me off, there are people here. And even when you think that people would be far away from the beach, they are here. I know you wondering, so I'll tell you that I am a firm believer in power naps. Twice and hour for a minute each time is usually enough to get me through the day."

Hermione was courteous enough to turn her head before rolling her eyes in disdain, but Rocko had one last word: "If you are going to spend the rest of the week with him, you might as well at least try to get along with him a little better than you have been."

She yelled over her shoulder, "You don't understand, Rocko." Hermione waved to him and started walking down the beach.

Passing a breaker with six foot waves hitting against it. Anyone else other than Rocko would understand the amount of abuse she had suffered caused by Draco's words and no one else could see the scar she still had on her middle finger's knuckle where she had hit the blondie in their third year. For a few years, she had tried to keep a journal, but each entry had turned into angsty rants against Draco that got her nowhere in her emotional struggle. A flock of seagulls swooped around her and for the first time, she did not feel as though the birds were dirty scavengers. They were just like her-majestic, but horribly misunderstood. She thought back to her last date with Ron when she had tried to hold his hand in the popcorn bucket and he had laughed about the odd occurrence without realizing what she had meant to do.

* * *

****The ensuing night and morning passed with little interaction between the two. Draco was dining when Hermione went to bed and did not make any noise when he returned, not even having to use a silencing charm on himself. Rocko greeted them that morning more timidly than ever before, still recovering from his spat with Hermione. "There is, um, a volcano that I, um, think you two would enjoy. It's very peaceful up there. I can have a driver pick you up in an hour." His claw lay on his own on/off switch in case someone started yelling at him.

The couple shrugged and Draco admitted, "Well, I didn't have anything else planned for today."

"Planned?" Hermione narrowed her eyes at him as she pulled on a sweatshirt and some jeans, hidden behind the bathroom door.

"Yes, I, um, thought through some things on the plane."

She pulled a brush through her hair and let Draco brush his teeth. "Oh, I see."

Rocko craned his neck to watch for a final 'okay' from Hermione before shutting himself off to avoid any other risky encounters. The two of them grabbed a quick bite to eat from the Starbucks after an uneventful elevator ride and loaded themselves into a waiting limo complete with TV screens. Rocko buzzed to life in front of them and started filling in the details. "The limo driver will drop you off at the base of the mountain and be there waiting when you choose to descend. Enjoy yourselves." He clicked himself off, but Draco quickly lunged forward and turned the TV back on.

"Wait! Don't you have some witty retort! A little verbal jousting against me as per usual?"

"No, no," Rocko assured him before turning off again, "Hermione and I had a little chat yesterday, and I feel as though she had a valid point and have decided to be a more passive guide on your trip."

Draco turned to her as the moutains rolled past in a sea of green behind the sea of blue that surrounded them. "Thank you, Hermione, for getting that awful bird off our backs! I had no idea that he was included." The blond started chuckling to himself in gratitude, and Hermione joined in, whether in genuine happiness or forced politeness, she could not be sure. The two had started to blend together when it came to dealing with Draco.

The driver dropped them off without a word on a ledge that overlooked a rich valley more magnificent than anything that could be seen in England, even from the back of a Hippogryff. They both bemoaned their lack of brooms until Hermione summoned a couple from her storage locker in London that she had stored there after their Hogwarts years and the end of both Harry and Ron's quidditch careers.

She mounted hers and hovered in wait for Draco, muttering, "This one was Ron's when we were in our sixth year."

Draco quickly but fluidly changed the subject, "So then this one was Harry's?"

"Yes, I suppose. One of Ginny's must be in the storage locker somewhere, too."

They started their ascent, more majestic than a plane and devoid of the drastic change in air pressure.

"So you and Ginny were close?"

"Yes..." She racked her brain for someone in Draco's life that was similar, but came up dry. "She was like a sister to me."

"I wish I had someone like that."

They were both at a loss for words as they led each other around palm trees as they continued up the volcano, neither of them knowing exactly what they would find at the top. Each tree and valley was like a Christmas present for them, better than any Weasley sweater. Hermione expected to see bunnies jumping out at any moment, but had to keep reminding herself that the little creatures were rare here and in these conditions, many animals lived farther down the mountain where trees were more abundant. They passed the tree line like the finish line of a marathon. Beyond that, the only marker was the top of the volcano where the land stopped and levelled out, looking like it fell off the face of the earth. They crested the top and stared in awe at the most beautiful valley they had ever seen staring back at them with old, vivacious eyes. "Woah. Don't see anything like this in London."

"Not even in paitings."

"It's places like these that must make the British very sad that they did not colonize Hawaii."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his imperialistic comment, but could not take them off of the beautiful sight in front of them. She had been to Hogwarts and seen the English countryside and been to the Department of Mysteries, and yet nothing compared to this!

Draco tapped her broom with his to wake her from her reverie as they watched the sun set over the earth: a marvelous event that took only a minute once it started. "Race ya," he challenged.

"You're on!"

And they were off! This time involved no circles around trees and absolutely no investigating the view. Everything passed by like they were on the Knight Bus, and Hermione's eyes started to water, but she didn't care. Racing, she knew, gave her a great endorphin boost and the happiness she felt now would last the rest of the day.

Draco beat her by about five seconds but for once did not brag, instead rolling off his broom and handing it back to her to send back to the storage locker. "Good race," she congratulated him.

"And you," he replied, stepping off towards the limo that has hidden from their view behind a grove of trees.

The driver stood in front of the car, slack-jawed, stuttering to himself.

"We are ready to return," Draco instructed him, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Oi, crikey! Sorry there, mate. Just thought I saw a couple of witches flying 'round on 'roomsticks. I 'ave not been gettin' enough sleep, I tell ya."

Draco and Hermione could barely contain their laughter before falling into the back seat of the limo.


	9. The Beach

**AN: Hey, lovelies! Hope you like this chapter. When I first came up with the story, I started with the end and then figured out a beginning. The middle parts either came to as I wrote, or, like this one, while I was emptying the dishwasher.**

That Thursday, Hermione woke up to a sleeping Draco and tip-toed onto their patio where she spread her arms to the morning sun as it rose in the early morning, so early that even Rocko was not awake. She shed her pajamas and donned a sundress with flats that would not flip-flop as she left the penthouse. She found the elevator attendant sleeping at his post, traveling between their floor and the floor below as his nodding head hit different buttons. Without waking him, Hermione reached over to hit the lobby's button and leaned back against the mirrored wall for the ride down.

Festooning herself on the beach in the sand, Hermione dialed her parents. It was late evening in England, but they would still be awake watching the news. Except they weren't. "Hello, you have reached the Granger household. We are busy right now, but will get back to you as soon as we can." Her mother's voice cut off with the long tone that Hermione did not even bother to listen to before checking her phone across the beach. "Too busy for your only daughter? Get back to me as soon as you can? You said that last time!"

Her hot tears rushed down faster than the waves rolling in by her feet. She took off her flats to spare ruining them and dug her hands into the sand to stop them from pounding the ground repeatedly in frustration. The last sliver of sun peeked out from over the horizon and her crying stopped with its appearance. "I'm in Hawaii," she whispered. "I am in Hawaii and they don't care." Hermione looked to her side where one of her hands squirmed in the presence of hidden crabs and saw a falling sand castle near her elbow, a remnant from yesterday. "In England, they have stone castles, but I guess I prefer sand." Her tears renewed at the paltry revelation and she removed her hands from their sand shackles to throw them up in the air and fall backwards to take in the blue sky that was so rare in London.

Laughing was difficult in this position, but she attempted it anyway and enjoyed the way that sand wriggled up her dress and pressed against her back as she vibrated back and forth with every shaky, humorous breath. "I have to find my phone." She chuckled. "I do not make enough to buy another one." She turned to giggling as she rolled over to her side to push herself up. "I barely make enough to afford an apartment that doesn't leak when it rains, but I am staying at a five-star resort with a parrot butler and people at my fingertips to do my bidding! Merlin, I need to find my phone." She continued in this hazy hilarity until she fell down in searching for her phone.

Hermione prayed that the device had not been swallowed by waves, but soon muttered, "Que sera, sera" and turned to making sand angels like she used to do in the snow in her suburban backyard. On her fifth angel, her hand hit something plastic in the sand. "Aha!" She sprung up with her phone in hand. It was covered in sand and would take some brushing off before she could use it again, but she suspected it would be a while before her parents called back, so she was not worried.

With a breezy sense about her, Hermione meandered back to the resort where she picked up a daily schedule and settled into a chair in the lounge to sit through a day of planned Hawaiian entertainment complete with acoustic guitars and hula dancers. In between shows, she dozed off but no one woke her until the nice breakfast waitress, Zelda shook her awake when the clouds had turned pink.

"Miss Hermione? Would you like some dinner? On Thursdays, we serve breakfast for dinner if you want."

"Oh Merlin! Is it Thursday already?" Hermione counted on her fingers while avoiding the pretty girl's gaze to avoid looking like a sleepy, idiotic tourist. "It is, isn't it?"

"Yes." Zelda's eyes glowed with the sun rays dancing in the window in front of her as she grasped Hermione's hand to pull her to the dining room and away from a washed-out cover band attempting to speak Hawaiian on stage.

The restaurant looked all the more festive at night with lights on palm trees as if it was Christmas and candles lit in the centers of tables as the sun continued to set. Zelda told her to wait at a table and then returned wearing a simple sundress and carrying a circular tray of Belgian waffles and apple juice.

"You changed!" Hermione exclaimed.

The other girl blushed in the sunset and muttered something about being on her break and wanting to spend it with a friend. Hermione beamed as she downed half of her apple juice. Another waitress swung by to check on them, but they dismissed her with polite jollity.

"So, how's Draco?"

"Um, oh, well," Hermione muttered as she finished off her apple juice, "he's good, I think. Haven't seen him today."

"Hmm... Are you two friends? More? I couldn't quite get a feeling for it..."

Hermione assured her as she cut through her waffles, "Coworkers. There's, um, nothing more than that."

"Really? But he's so handsome! There must be some inkling of affection..."

"Well, not _really_. We went to school together and hardly managed to be civil to each other. Rather the opposite, really."

"So there's nothing between you two?"

Hermione shrugged as syrup flooded her plate. It was vacation; she could indulge. "I wouldn't say nothing."

"But you wouldn't mind if I asked for his number?"

"No" was her automatic response, but she spent the rest of dinner reconsidering. Logically, she had no control over Draco and was in no place to influence the other people around him in their interactions with him, but he was her Draco. They were in this together. They fought against Rocko together and tricked those tourists at the luau together. At work, whenever one had a troublesome customer, they could always count on the other to stand up for them. They were a team. Sure, they hadn't started out that way, but when their boss had left them the company, they had to band together. But Hermione could rationalize that now she was helping Draco because it seemed sometimes that he could use a little love in his life. She had sometimes caught him quoting chick flicks and lyrics from boy bands as if he was a stereotypical teenage girl eating away her loneliness in tubs of Ben and Jerry's.

Zelda excused herself after a half hour to return to work and Hermione tried not to seem to anxious to avoid her new competition. No! There was no competition because there was nothing to compete for! The poor elevator attendant politely asked her how she was, and she gave him a fair amount of attitude the whole way up to the penthouse and forgot to tip him at the top. She was all fired up argue with Draco about his passivity and absence throughout the day or whatever other petty mistake she could pin on him, but the room was empty.

She threw her phone as she had done before and broke down in sobs on the floor while Rocko sleeped silently on the floor. Sleep was her only escape from this tired torrent of emotions that attacked her.


	10. The Return

**AN: Hey, lovelies! Not gonna rant here. Not gonna rant here. Not gonna rant here. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Things are gonna change, let me tell ya. This week needs to be over, those in favor, say 'aye.'**

In the morning, Draco had not returned. Hermione rolled her eyes at his absence, suspecting him passed out in some bimbos apartment after a night of drunk partying like Ron seemed to have adopted with that blondie. Maybe it was her. Maybe she cast a curse on all the men she was near to make them lead reckless lives. It would be best for Draco to just get out of her range to protect himself. Or maybe he didn't mind. She buried her head in her hands in thinking that this was probably the truth.

As she pulled on shorts and a tee-shirt over a bathing suit (she had yet to go swimming), she recalled his behaviors at Hogwarts. Sure, she had not spent seventh year with him, but that chick Pansy was always crawling on him, and he dressed like a pimp when they were sixteen. He even slicked back his hair. Guys trying to impress people did that, right? Oh, what did she know? The only person she had ever tried to impress other than a teacher was Ron, and her charms had obviously done nothing in that department. She hoped that Crookshanks was alright.

When she was about to pull on the door handle to go for a morning swim before trying to avoid the competitive Zelda at breakfast, Hermione crashed down to the floor, grasping her head at the temples and writhing in pain. Images flashed before her eyes. Images of Draco's blond hair. Images of Draco lying in a road with people punching at him every second. He did not even seem to have enough energy to plaster a stoic look on his face-everything about him from his crushed lips to squinted eyes screamed pain. And he screamed. He screamed Hermione's name.

She hoped that Draco was alright even though she knew he was not.

Always a skilled witch, Hermione focused herself to apparate to where Draco was without knowing the exact destination. She pictured the Hawaiian road with a helpless boy being outnumbered and so incapacitated that he could not use his wand. Hermione braced herself for the familiar black hole of apparition and pulled her wand from her shorts in mid-flight.

Deposited on a sidewalk with no street lights to illuminate this street in the early morning where the sun had not yet risen over the shadows of buildings, she shouted hexes upon arrival. The cliched I-will-not-shoot-because-I-do-not-want-to-hit-the-victim barely rushed through her head before she shouted sectumsempra after each of her hurried breaths. Draco's attackers flew into the air, blood shooting off from their hands where they had broken Draco's skin. Each of the four lay in convulsions at the corners of the streets as Hermione rushed to his side.

The now-victims at each end of a compass moaned as Draco did, but Hermione only muttered healing charms over her friend. "Draco, we have to get you to a hospital!"

"No, no, no!" He regained enough energy to grab her wrists and shake them in pleas. "They'll find out that we're wizards. They'll find out who those guys are. Take me back to the penthouse," he muttered with one last breath before collapsing onto her forearms.

She muttered one last spell spell before apparating them back to their room with tears in her eyes. His blood was like onions to her.

This black hole felt like a well that she could not help but fall into. Call Lassie.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived, but immediately lapsed into screeching at the sight of a splinched Draco. He started shaking in pain as she panicked. Call a nurse. The last time she had dealt with this was with Ron and she had used... She had used...Ditany! Yes! "Accio ditany," she screamed at the top of her lungs, picturing a bottle buried in her medicine cabinet. It soared into her hand and with shaking fingers she pulled out the dropper.

Rocko clicked on the TV, but she screamed a curse at it, making the screen fall back against the wall and unplug itself.

Draco passed out as she spread the medicine over him, and she turned to praying as she had not done since she left for Hogwarts where the idea of a God seemed insignificant. She too passed out this way, but from sheer overexertion, not pain.

* * *

When Hermione woke up from the blinding sun that shot through the blinds, Draco was in the bathroom washing his face and then buttoning up a polo, not bloody, not brusied, not cut at all, like his usual porcelain statue self.

"Draco!"'

"Oh, um, hello, Hermione." He did not move his focus from his shirt before turning off the light and slipping into some flip-flops. "Want to get some dinner? It would be nice to watch the sunset while we eat before we have to leave tomorrow."

"What happened?" She erupted. "How can you just act like you are fine when just hours I rescued you from certain death? Are you really that out of touch with the real world? They would have killed you if you hadn't thought to contact me with Legilimency, which I am not sure how you did considering the state you were in! What happened?"

"Please, let's not talk about it. Is the hotel restaurant a good place?"

"No! I don't want to go to dinner! I want answers! Who were those people and why were they attacking you? Did you provoke them or was it an outstanding grudge? Are you in trouble? What is going on?"

Rocko turned on as Draco muttered, "Do not worry about me."

The bird, cawed, "So, Mr. Malfoy, I see that you're plan is not going as planned."

"Shut up, Rocko!"

Hermione jumped on the word 'plan' as Draco shut off the TV. "Plan? What plan? I knew that we weren't friends, but I thought we were more honest with each other than this."

Draco shook his head and combed his hands through his ruffle hair. "No, you wouldn't be able to take my honesty!"

"Try me!"

"No, and that's final! I will not argue with you!" He swung open the door and grabbed a room key in a last act of responsibility. "Now, if you will excuse me."

"Fine, go have dinner with your precious Zelda!"

"What?" He spat the word in utter confusion as the elevator arrived, opening its doors to the attendant in his crisp, green uniform.

The boy's quiet, "Sir, which floor?" sent Hermione into the backdrop as she disappeared into the past.

"Nothing!"

Draco shook his head at her stubborness and left her alone to place a sleeping charm on herself after packing her things so that she would not wake up when Draco returned.

* * *

The two of them woke up at the same time for once, and Hermione plugged the TV back in to bid Rocko a final goodbye to which he replied with a cool dismissal and shake of his head.

Both of them carried their suitcases to the elevator where the boy was waiting for them with a cart. He attempted small talk, but neither responded, feigning exhaustion and hang overs that inhibited their social abilities. Draco threw their room keys on the counter and did not respond to the host's well wishes.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when their limo driver remained silent as they were and relished the feeling of cool separation that had washed over them and remained until they had to tell the security agent at the airport what their names were. Draco cast an invisibility charm on his wand this time and Hermione did likewise to avoid any confrontations in the white-walled place with its fake palm trees and paintings from long-dead native artists.

The gate agent called the first class ticket holders, so they left the not-so sterile waiting area to relax into blue leather seats with built-in TVs while a stewardess brought them pineapple juice in crystal glasses.

Draco muttered, breaking the silence, "Zelda gave me her number last night, so you were right about her."

"Yeah, she told me that she thought you were hot."

He chuckled and drew his hands through perfectly-combed hair. "I threw it out, just so you know."

"Good." She tried to make it sound more matronly than controlling, but she had no idea how Draco perceived it.

"Do you think I'm hot?"

"Don't push your luck, Malfoy. I'm still mad at you."

He downed his pineapple juice like it was a shot before slamming his fists onto his knees in preparation for his defense. "I told you, I can't tell you who those guys were and why we were fighting. All you can know is that I was in trouble, but my pained brain thought to call you and you saved me. I am eternally grateful for you. Thank you for saving my life. I am forever in your debt. What do you want me to say?"

She murmured, "I don't want that. I just want equal honesty. We all deserve some of that, don't we?"

The flight continued in silence, with meals passed out, vegetarian, and two movies watched by each of them with barely a smile at jokes or frown at tragedies. The flight attendants regarded them with confused glances and concocted outlandish stories about this mysterious couple, many of which involved a vibrant sex life.

Hermione grumbled all through customs and almost lapsed into full on cursing when she could not understand what the officer was saying, so Draco butted in to help her. They exited the line with their luggage, and Hermione fought back tired tears.

"Here, Hermione, let me drive you home. My car was close to the exit."

She was too exhausted and frustrated to argue.

Draco put a hand on her back to guide her to the garage, but both of them flinched at the contact and quickly separated. Hermione hid her tears by walking ahead of Draco and keeping her eyes low. At some point, the scenery in front of her changed from white tile to black cement and stayed there for what seemed like an eternity. Draco started cursing after they walked down every row without finding his car. He hit the panic button and could hear a shrieking from below, so they trekked down the stairs, Hermione holding back pained moans as her strappy heels dug into her feet.

"Draco, did you seriously lose your car?"

"No, it's right here!" He hit the panic button again, but it was still below them. Hermione rolled her eyes and walked away from him towards her own car.

"Where are you going?"

"To my own car!"

"Sorry, see you on Monday!"

"We'll see about that," she muttered to herself as she slid into her car and let the tears rush down onto the steering wheel before starting the engine and crying more as the air from the vents hit her eyes.


	11. The Truth

**AN: A million apologies that I did not update last week! Please do not put a curse upon my family! To make up for it, I will publish a teensy weensy epilogue soon, which I was not originally planning. Heck, I wasn't originally planning that this would become such a big thing for me. Your support means so much and I love you guys. It's because of you that this fic has more views than one of my M-rated fics. **

Hermione awoke in one of her least favorite ways: with ruined mascara crusted onto her cheeks and mixed with her cheap pink lipstick. She sat straight up in bed, anticipating the rude call of Rocko but actually sighed when she realized the bird was still back in Hawaii. Hawaii. Everything came crashing back to her as she poured herself a bowl of Wheaties. She even missed that jealous chick, Zelda.

Usually, she liked making lists to sort out her priorities, but the only problem on the list that did not involve Draco was Crookshanks, so even though the sun had barely risen over London, she threw on some slacks and drove to the pseudo-slums where Ron lived. Passing by a drunk, she clip-clopped up the stairs in her Jimmy Choo heels, an upgrade from the terribly uncomfortable strappy sandals from yesterday. She still had cuts on her feet from wandering the parking garage with Draco.

Taped to Ron's door was an eviction notice dated with tomorrow's date. When Hermione knocked, the door swung open. The toerag had not paid his bills! What was wrong with him? And where was he! He had her cat! "Ronald!" Hermione screamed the vacant drywall. Nothing was left in the apartment apart from some newspapers even though Hermione was pretty sure that none of the furniture actually belonged to Ron. At her incessant screaming, something rustled in the bathroom and she rushed towards it, acting on impulse, with only her car keys to protect her.

Thankfully it was Crookshanks who lay curled up in the shower curtain. Hermione scooped him up in her arms and cuddled him to her face even though he smelled like spilt beer and cigarette smoke. Great, now Ron was smoking! Thinking of the apartment's next unfortunate occupant, she hung up the fallen curtain before escorting her cat to the door without bothering to look for leftover food in the disgusting hovel.

She heard clip-clops on the stairs and stopped at the threshold to avoid being seen, but the door was still open. The visitor shouted, "Ron, are you back now? Ron, baby, I am so sorry that I did not come back last night, and I know you called to break up, but I thought we could-oh!" She dropped a bag of groceries when she practically ran into Hermione at the top of the stairs. "Sorry!" The blond model scrambled to pick up a bag of apples as Hermione launched into apologies, too.

"I'm Heidi." The girl extended a French-manicured hand. "We got off on the wrong foot the last time we met. I was terribly hungover. Do you remember me?"

Even though the girl was now fully clothed in a black pant suit with ruby necklace and a shopping bag balanced on her hip, it was impossible for Hermione not to remember her. "Yes, I'm Hermione."

Heidi nodded. "I know. Ron talked about you an awful lot. Speaking of which, where is he now?" She ducked her head into the empty apartment as Hermione stepped aside in guilt.

"Oh, gosh!" Heidi dropped the bag again as her hand flew to her mouth in shock.

Hermione pointed to the eviction notice and cuddled Crookshanks closer to her. "I'm sorry."

The other girl started pulling at her perfectly straight hair with her perfect nails and muttered, "He always said that he was going to move out, but I thought at least he would tell me! I knew we had a fight when he found out that I had slept with that Sam guy, but it was just once! I never thought! No! How long has this been here? She redirected her anger to the yellow slip of paper as tears started to fall onto the dusty ground. Hermione untangled a hand from Crookshank's fur to hold the other girl's hand and lead her down the stairs to her car where she calmly started the engine while the model cried.

"You loved him too, didn't you?" She asked Hermione as she smeared her makeup in trying to wipe away the tears.

She shrugged, somewhat in shock at this crazy turn of events. "Once I did, but someone helped me realize that it was time to move on."

Heidi raised her eyebrows but could not hold the pose long before lapsing into tears again.

"Men suck," Hermione announced with her hands in the air while they were at a red light. Even Crookshanks meowed in agreement. "You think they like you and then they abandon you. You take them for a nice guy and then they won't tell you why they almost died in a dark alley before you saved them!" She climbed out of the car once at her apartment and left Heidi to follow at her leisure which she did, if only to hear the rest of Hermione's story.

"You're not just talking about Ron anymore, are you?"

Hermione sighed with her key in the lock. She had severely underestimated this girl. She had smarts. "No, let me start at the beginning." She let them all three into the apartment and put on the kettle for breakfast tea. "I work with a man named Draco at a travel agency. One of our clients gifted us a trip to Hawaii. During the trip, Draco would not stop bugging me about my past with Ron after I found out that he had been disowned under mysterious circumstances and turned to prostitution to survive. Then, on the last day of the trip, I saved him from being beaten to death in a dark alley and he wouldn't tell me what was going on." She opened the pastel drapes in the sitting area and curled up on the white couch that matched the pine flooring. "We had good times, though. Saw some sea turtles. Went to a volcano. Spent a lot of time on the beach."

The hot pink kettle whistled a happy tune and Hermione sprung up before asking Heidi what flavor tea she preferred. The blond responded gray and started cutting one of the apples from her bag.

"But the bad outweighs the good right now, and the worst part is that I have to go back to work on Monday."

Heidi shrugged as she cut out a bruised part of the apple. "You could take a day off," she suggested, but Hermione laughed at it as she poured the hot water.

"I don't really take days off of work. The vacation was a huge decision for me." She dropped two tea bags into rainbow-striped mugs on the formica counter. "Maybe a bad decision. I don't know."

Heidi grabbed her hand before she could grab the pot of sugar from a shelf above her. "If you had fun with this guy, it was not a bad trip. If you learned something, it was not a bad trip. And if it was not a bad trip, you should not let anything keep you from working. I get the feel that you're one of those people who actually like working."

Hermione blushed but nodded before presenting her guest with some lemon juice before realizing that she had not breakfast food that was edible after the week long vacation, so they reclined on the plush couch with just tea.

"But the worst part is... I think I started developing feelings for him. Which is weird because we were always enemies in school, and I had never thought of him like that. It hurts, but I have to let that go, just like I let Ron go."

Heidi opened her pinkish lips to say something but closed them before deciding to add, "You will do what you have to do. You are a very smart girl for your age." She sipped her tea without realizing how many times Hermione had heard that before.

The bookworm was about to run to the corner store for some fatty ice cream before settling down to watch a chick flick with her new friend when a sea turtle floated into her room in a a blue-grey orb of light. Heidi looked over the edge of the couch and shrugged, explaining, "I know about the magic stuff" as the patronus started to speak.

"Hermione, it's me, Draco. We need to talk. Please come to work on Monday. I can explain everything now. Please trust me."

The turtle vanished in a wave of light and Hermione stood there, shocked. "Wow. He once told me that he had never produced a patronus, but now he can, and it was a sea turtle which I kept talking about in Hawaii."

Heidi slammed her rainbow mug onto the glass coffee table and threw up her hands. "Well, then it's settled! You have to go to work on Monday, now!" Hermione blushed.

* * *

Usually, Hermione did not care what she wore, especially to work, but as her feelings for Draco repaired themselves and even grew every time she thought of the implications of his patronus, she grew more and more sure that today's outfit would have to be stellar: something sexy, but not slutty, classy, but not pretentious. She wished that Heidi was still there to help her, but the other girl had left that past night to go find Ron and do some explaining just like Draco.

Crookshanks batted at the hem of a short skirt that she had bought on impulse when shopping with Ginny for the last time before she got married. Hermione scooped up the cat to think clearly and then swiftly put him on the bed to avoid getting covered in cat hair. It was 6:50. Work started at 7:00. Even if she apparated, she would need to choose something fast.

The cat jumped down from the bed and ran in front of her as she took a step towards her meager closet. Hermione tripped over his striped tail and flailed her arms forward to avoid falling flat on her already self-conscious face. Her hands grabbed onto the sleeve of something silky that almost slid from her grasp as she stood up. The silky sleeve belonged to a dress she had bought to wear when she told her parents that she had erased their memories.

Well, today could turn out to be another important milestone in her crazy life, so the lacey orange sherbet dress with soft sleeves seemed suited for the day.

Crookshanks ogled her as she slipped into her nicest, white lace strapless bra for before sliding into the dress and throwing on a pair of flats that she rarely wore because they hurt her feet; she spritzed on some perfume for good measure. The cat meowed her right as she popped out of sight.

The whirl of apparating could not compare to how Hermione was feeling as she landed in her stark white office with its huge windows and pictures of travel destinations. Draco did not even have to look up as she arrived because he had already been staring at her desk since he got there, waiting for her to show up. Hermione muttered a hello and immediately cast her eyes downward to avoid his blank, blue stare.

"Hey, Hermione." He stood up at his desk, looking dashing in a classic black button-up and grey slacks. Then he sat down. "I have some things to tell you. I have not been entirely truthful with you. You may want to sit down."

She swallowed, clutching at her neck for some imaginary necklace to fiddle with to calm her nerves. Her trembling fingers pulled out the dormant desk chair, and she slid into it with her hands now in her lap where he could not see her shaking.

"There are three main things we need to discuss, or, rather, that I have to tell you. 1. Why I was disowned. 2-"

"I thought it was because you saw the error in your ways and-"

"No," Draco whispered, just barely shaking his head, not resorting to his usual anger when dealing with Hermione's interruptions as he had done while they were at Hogwarts. "2. The circumstances that led to us going to Hawaii. 3. Who those men were in the alley that beat me up."

Hermione bit her lip to keep from interrupting. The sound of his voice had become soothing especially when he spoke at such a subdued tone with no frustration in his speech, maybe just more... anxiety.

"I know I said them out of order, but it may make the most sense to start with number two." Both of the adults had dealt with countless people in their lives and careers, but their was a strange silence that covered them and brought a dark tone to the usually light office. Hermione thought to turn on the lights, but they were already on. "So, the trip. Mr. Zabini was never going to Hawaii."

"But you were on the phone with him, and-"

"Fake phone call. It was a spell I picked up. So, I really planned the whole thing. The planes, the room, the dinner. I apologize for the annoying bird and the carnivorous luau. I had no idea."

"It's fine." Hermione shrugged even though her mind was turning flip flops as she thought of possible reasons that would make Draco create a fake trip. Did he really want to get to Hawaii that badly? Then why had he taken her?

"Thank you." He placed his hands on top of his desk and then let them fall to his sides as he continued, "I planned it to spend time with you. Which leads me into number one, no, wait, three. Number three: those men were Death Eaters who beat me up for the same reason my parents disowned me and also for the fact that I was disowned."

Hermione swallowed, lowering her eyes from his straight gaze that had barely shifted since her arrival.

"Which brings me to number one. When I was in Italy with my parents, I decided that I wanted to tell them something. As you may know, I was destined to marry the Greengrass girl. I like Astoria, but I could never envision a life with her that would give me any happiness. I told them that I did not want to marry her, and they almost laughed it off. They asked who I would marry instead. They thought there were few other eligible girls, so when I said, "Hermione Grainger," they stopped laughing. They really stopped laughing when I told them that I loved you."

_I loved you. I loved you. I love you. I love you._

Finally, Draco broke his gaze and walked around his desk to the middle of the office where he stood with his hands spread wide in hopes of acceptance. "That's the trifecta. I guess I'll be going, then. I'll leave the company if you don't want to deal with all this baggage." He let his hands fall to run them through his silky hair and turned to walk away.

Only in his wildest dreams could he have guessed what happened next, and his dreams were very wild sometimes.

Hermione flew from behind her desk to where he was standing to strangle him in a hug and bury her face into the collar of his shirt. His arms relaxed around her.

"I love you, Hermione."

She looked up at him, hazel meeting blue like how the land meets the water. "I think I could fall in love with you, Draco."

He laughed. "That is the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me."

Draco grabbed her under the chin with his pureblood fingers and brought her lips to his in a tentative kiss, afraid that she might pull away due to his forwardness, but instead she returned the feeling and pressed her lips into his.


	12. Epilogue

**AN: Here it is! Thank you all so much for all of your support. I do not plan to write any more Dramione for a bit (I'm a Drarry girl, sorry) but I am so glad that I got the chance to do this and interact with all of you beautiful human beings. I always respond to reviews and PMs if you ever want to drop me a line. Please?**

Hermione had always been very methodical. Except for that kiss. Wow, that kiss. She later reasoned that it was the only thing her heart was telling her to do in the moment after Draco had confessed his love for her. Ron had never said that he loved her and neither had Harry, even in a platonic way. But she was done with Ron. She barely saw the oaf lately, so consumed with her life with Draco.

She put her last pair of shorts in her suitcase and went to answer the doorbell. Rose grabbed at her skirt as she flitted past, and she could not help but stop to pick up her daughter with the cute blond streaked hair and blue eyes that still sucked her thumb at three years old. Hermione flew over the wood floors next to the burgundy walls that were dotted with pictures of the happy family before she yanked open the heavy pine door with its elegant window.

Heidi invited herself in and immediately took her goddaughter from her mother. "Hey, 'Mione. How's it going?"

The mom took a deep breath and brushed a strand of Rose's hair behind her ear as she led in her friend to the kitchen where tea was already steeping.

"Everything is under control."

"As usual." Heidi laughed as she plopped the toddler into her booster seat and helped herself to a mug of tea. She pointed to a portrait above her head of Draco and Hermione on their last vacation together to Australia to visit her parents. "Is this new?"

"Yeah." Hermione sighed as she squeezed a lemon into her own tea and checked her phone for texts from Draco for the tenth time that hour. "It was delivered after the last time you were here, I guess."

Heidi rolled her eyes at her friend's sudden change in mood. "Don't worry, sweetie. Draco will text you when he is on his way. He probably just had some last minute things to do before your guys' big trip. It only comes once a year." She waggled her eyebrows and relaxed into the classic wooden kitchen chair with her pedicured feet crossed.

"I know, but we both took off a day from work to get ready, and he's still running late."

Heidi nodded and redirected the conversation away from her friend's worries. "How is Magical Getaways?"

"Good, it's good. Lot of new clients. That's mostly Draco's doing. He's really good with people. We have a partnership with some hotels that we've visited now, so that helps us and them. It's better than I ever imagined it would be. To think that I started out as a secretary!"

"Maybe that's what I need to do," Heidi mused. "I'll get a job like that and then one of my coworkers will sweep me away on an exotic vacation and then profess his love for me." The blonde girl had never quite gotten over her breakup with Ron.

The girls slipped into giggles, but a luminescent ghost arrived on the scene to reset the mood. A sea turtle glided in from the hallway, leaving a wave of light. It spoke: "I love you, Hermione." And the recipient blushed at the public proffession of love as Draco swung around the corner to give her a bouquet and a kiss.

"Sorry I'm late, love, but I figured you needed some flowers and our wonderful savior Heidi needed some Lindor truffles." He winked and let his hands fall from Hermione's taffeta waist long enough to toss the bag to Heidi who nodded a thanks before stuffing two into her mouth.

Hermione turned around in her husband's arms and looked into his blue eyes that never failed to amaze her. "So, where are we going?" He kissed her tea-coated lips and rested his nose on hers.

"You will see." Draco slid his arm from her svelt waist once more to wave Heidi goodbye and lead Hermione out to the garage. "Thank you for watching Rose, Heidi. Bye sweetheart!"

"Bye Daddy," the little girl chimed. "Bye, Mommy."

"Goodbye, sweet pea!" Hermione called over her shoulder as Draco summoned their luggage and wrapped his arm around her waist to escort her to the passenger side.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked once more after they had set out on the open roads of England complete with blooming flowers and road signs that interested her not in comparison to the excitement she felt in taking their annual trip that Draco had initiated so many years ago. The first one after Hawaii had been Italy and then France, leading to last year's Australia visit.

He kissed her hand at a stop light, relishing the sight of his ring on her hand. "Have you ever been to... Hawaii?"


End file.
